


everything i wanted (you gave me more)

by sujing



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, an exercise in writing exactly 1.000 words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 16:29:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18898399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sujing/pseuds/sujing
Summary: As Harry’s 15thbirthday nears, so does the day that the mark revealing his soulmate will appear. He’s not looking forward to it, to say the least.Because it can’t be Sirius, can it?





	everything i wanted (you gave me more)

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [RedHorse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedHorse/pseuds/RedHorse) in the [SirryFest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SirryFest) collection. 



> Thank you to RedHorse for the prompt! I hope you enjoy this take on it <3

Harry pulled himself upright on his bed, only to fall back down on his front after a moment with a muffled thump. He stretched and wiggled his toes, pressing his elbows into his pillow, wrinkling the Snitch-patterned print.

His body was sore after falling asleep in an awkward position. Despite his apprehension, he had been trying to stay up until midnight to watch his soul-mark appear. Though it could hardly be considered late, given his usual erratic sleeping habits, especially over the summer hols, he had been stressing over the matter for the past week already and desperately needed his sleep.

He jumped up again, rubbing his eyes. _Right, the mark,_ he thought blearily, reaching to his nightstand for his glasses before jamming them on his face. _I’m fifteen now. The age when all witches and wizards’ marks appear._

He looked down, ready to examine himself head-to-toe for the sign of a new blemish on his skin. He had many from Quidditch accidents, various cuts and scrapes that never quite disappeared, even under Madam Pomfrey’s careful treatment. He didn’t mind—it was an inevitable part of the sport.

He spotted it immediately. It was nestled just below his elbow, on the inside of his left forearm, peeking out from beneath the cuff of his pyjamas. He pushed his sleeve up to get a better look.

There, on his skin, was branded the tattoo-like image of a large black dog. A _Grim_ , Hermione had called it, back in third year. Divination had been a mistake, and though Hermione had eventually dropped it, she had still helped Ron and him study for their exams. They all agreed Trelawney was impossible. 

A death omen. _Of course._ Harry held his face tiredly and groaned.

Was it someone he knew? Someone at Hogwarts?

He hoped not, if he had to be honest. School was complicated enough, and he didn’t need the additional pressure of dealing with a soulmate in class. Only months ago, Ron and Hermione had gotten together, and while he was happy for them (they fit together well), he couldn’t see it happening for himself.

Besides, beyond a passing fancy he’d quickly gotten over last year, there was still…

_wild black hair and stunning grey eyes, a playful grin dancing on upturned lips_

…Sirius.

* * *

“Um.” Harry pulled up his sleeve hesitantly, baring his arm as he stood by the kitchen counter. His father was in the midst of making breakfast at the stove (Monday was his turn), while his mother was perusing the morning paper at the table with coffee and a slight furrowing of her brows. Evidently, and unsurprisingly, something in the _Daily Prophet_ had displeased her yet again.

Harry’s father turned to him and froze, a pancake halfway flipped in the pan. “ _Oh,_ ” he said, his face filling with stunned disbelief as Lily looked up with a questioning glance. “That’s—”

“Me.” Harry spun to face the new voice, though he would recognise it anywhere. It was Sirius, standing in the doorway, leaning against its frame, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Sirius!” A sudden and inexplicable desire to conceal his arm overcame Harry. “I—what did you say?”

“That’s me on your arm,” Sirius repeated. “My Animagus form.”

Harry saw stars. “ _No_ ,” he breathed. “Since when are you—show me your mark.”

Sirius’s smile grew impossibly wider. It occurred to Harry that he didn’t know where Sirius’s mark was. It definitely wasn’t on his arm—Sirius was much too fond of wearing sleeveless tanks in the summer. In fact, he was wearing one now. 

“My back,” Sirius said simply, before pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it over a chair. Lily huffed but made no other protest. Sirius turned around, exposing his back to Harry. “James’s an Animagus, too. We don’t talk about it since we’re not actually registered, and we’re supposed to set good examples as Aurors,” he said teasingly.

“Hey,” James protested, “I’m the pinnacle of good examples!”

Harry, meanwhile, couldn’t have looked away if he wanted to. Over Sirius’s left shoulder blade was a stag with its antlers raised proudly like a crown, its eyes closed as if dreaming.

“Isn’t that,” Harry began, “just like Mum’s?” Except her stag’s eyes were wide open, a mischievous glint hiding within their brown depths, if one looked close enough.

It wasn’t the same.

“I used to think it was your dad,” Sirius said sheepishly. “But, of course, Lily came along…and I came to my senses.”

“You haven’t found your soulmate?” Harry felt as if his world had been turned upside-down. “ _How?_ I thought… I thought you’d lost yours in the war…”

“It happens sometimes,” said Lily, entering full lecture mode. She looked like she was trying to keep her face straight, but whether it was to keep herself from laughing or to prevent something more insidious from flying off her tongue at Sirius (her hexes were universally feared), Harry couldn’t tell. “The greatest documented age difference between soulmates is well over fifty years. It’s not even always possible to figure out their identity.”

“I have,” Sirius corrected. “You.”

“Wait, you _knew?_ ” Harry exclaimed, looking between Sirius and his parents. His mother shrugged and averted her gaze, taking a sip from her cup. His father returned to their breakfast.

“The possibility occurred to me, but I didn’t dare to believe it, Harry,” Sirius answered. “I was content with the friends I had.”

“Can I touch it?” Harry asked. Sirius nodded.

Harry drew near, slowly, as if a sudden movement might frighten the stag away. He pressed a single finger to its warm nose.

The stag’s eyes blinked open to reveal a dazzling green just like his mother’s—just like his.

“Oh,” Harry whispered. “It’s really true.”

“Harry? Is something wrong?” Sirius asked, craning his head back, his voice full of concern. Harry felt his face with the back of his hand. It came back wet with tears. He laughed.

“Nothing, Sirius. Absolutely nothing.”

It wasn’t a Grim, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Harry: soo…my soulmate is a dog?  
> Hermione: Harry.  
> Hermione: just no  
> Hermione: that's not how it works!!


End file.
